Politics
She’s Doing It: 5 Things Candy Crowley and Helen Gurley Brown Have in Common – and One Thing They Couldn’t
Aside from Vice Presidential candidate Paul Ryan’s frighteningly extreme position on Medicare, the top news this week has been all women all the time.
On Monday, August 13, the Commission on Presidential Debates announced that for the first time since Carole Simpson in 1992, a woman—CNN’s “State of the Union” host and chief political correspondent Candy Crowley—will moderate a presidential debate.
Crowley, 61, has won many awards for political reporting during stellar career. She graduated from Randolph-Macon Woman’s College—my friend Amy Litzenberger is sure that women find their voices in all-female college settings—and rose from a Washington DC radio newsroom assistant through the Associated Press and NBC ranks before joining CNN news in 1987. Along the way, she covered every presidential campaign and convention since Jimmy Carter.
On the same day Crowley’s selection was announced, Cosmopolitan Magazine’s iconic former editor-in-chief and the author of the 1962 game-changing best seller Sex and the Single Girl, Helen Gurley Brown, died in Manhattan at age 90.
Read MoreSurprising Things Women in Politics Can Learn from Linda McMahon
This week three New Jersey teenage girls successfully campaigned to get—for the first time in history—an equal number of male and female journalists to conduct the upcoming presidential debates.
Also this week, women rule in Hawaii. Emily’s List congratulated U.S. Congresswoman Mazie Hirono (D-HI) on her U.S. Senate primary victory over former Rep. Ed Case and Congressional candidate Tulsi Gabbard‘s primary win over Mufi Hannemann for Hirono’s vacated seat. Hirono will face a tough general election race in November against Republican ex-governor Linda Lingle, while the Daily Kos is so sure Democrat Gabbard will be a shoe-in general election victory that they don’t even name her opponent.
And whereas Hillary Clinton was damned if she did and damned even more if she didn’t dress and act certain male-defined ways, in the Political Animals era, the time has come when women benefit from running as themselves rather than trying to show stereotypically male characteristics.
Read MoreRomney’s Ryan Pick: Evil Brilliance, Obama’s Opportunity
Ryan assures an even larger gender gap in November. And most likely a new age gap. So here’s a new prediction: Young women afraid of losing their access to birth control and seniors fearing loss of Medicare may well form the biggest new voting bloc in history. Let the games begin.
Read MoreWho should be Romney’s running mate?
As the Republican National Convention highlights women on its convention speaking schedule, the speculation about who Romney will choose as his running mate has crept back onto the media screen.
According to Politico, The Republican National Committee has announced that Condoleezza Rice, Mike Huckabee, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez are among those expected to address the Republican convention – all but knocking them off of the vice presidential contenders list if usual rules are followed.
Observes Politico’s Arena question today, “That leaves several expected contenders in the mix, including former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty, Sen. Rob Portman (Ohio), House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (Wis.), Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.
“While Christie is rumored to be the keynote speaker, nothing has been confirmed. Despite the buzz, he has said in the past that he is not vice presidential material.”
Whoever the veep choice might be, I’ll bet Romney would love for us to be speculating on his vice presidential pick instead of where his tax returns are and whether he paid taxes during the years he refuses to disclose.
Read MoreWhat’s the Secret to Increasing Women’s Political Leadership?
In this interview, I talked with WJCT-FM (NPR) “First Coast Connect” host Melissa Ross about why women haven’t moved the political power and leadership dial since 1992, and why women remain stuck at a mere 17% of Congressional seats and less than 25% of state legislative positions.
Remember 1992 year of the woman? That was the last time a presidential election overlapped with re-districting initiatives. The result was that women won 22 of the 24 open congressional seats that year. Some political observers think that kind of sweep could happen again this year as congressional and state legislative districts are being redrawn across the country.
The 2012 project of the Rutger’s Center for Women in Politics says, “Political opportunities for women are ripe for the picking if they only seize the moment.”
MELISSA ROSS: Let me begin by asking you about the 2012 Project. Is it designed to get more women into congress?
Read MoreMichele Bachmann’s McCarthyism?
Geez, poor Huma Abedin. She has to bear the burden of being married to Anthony Weiner — and now this. Anyone who has ever worked with Abedin (as I have) knows she is an extraordinarily loyal, honest, and capable public servant.
But Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) keeps drinking the Kool-aid of conspiracy theorists. And now she alleges that Abedin, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton‘s devoted aide for many years, has ties to the Muslim Brotherhood and therefore Bachmann says Abedin’s loyalty is in question.
It’s pathetic. Perhaps Bachmann really believes this stuff. More likely she misses the limelight she had when she was running for president.
Read MoreWould Condi Rice for VP Nominee Balance Romney?
Seems like the the Republicans always want to bring in a woman when there’s a mess to clean up, and Romney certainly has a mess on his hands with his multiple stories — some call them “lies” — about his time at Bain. No wonder Condoleeza Rice’s name is being floated again as a vice presidential candidate.
True, as Sarah Palin almost acknowledged, in the experience realm, Rice brings vastly more substance than the former Alaska governor had when she was chosen as John McCain’s running mate. And in both optics and general election appeal to independents, a female African-American with Rice’s foreign policy chops and moderate leanings could boost the ticket.
Palin’s comments were in response to speculation Rice would be Romney’s vice-presidential pick, driven by conservative commentators Matt Drudge and Rush Limbaugh, both now touting Rice for the post.
But in the end, despite Palin’s willingness (along with Drudge and Limbaugh apparently) to cut Rice some slack on her pro-choice stance, the fact is that the person at the top of the ticket sets the agenda.
Rice’s gender would not help “balance” a man who has flip-flopped on women’s reproductive rights, now supports laws making women non-persons, and won’t even commit to support equal pay. Nor would her race peel off African-American voters from Barack Obama, especially in the wake of the enormous egg Romney laid when he spoke to the NAACP earlier this week.
Read MoreYou Never Really Hear About Mitt Romney’s Ankles
OK, I admit it: when I wrote about the sitcom Veep, I fretted over the less than buttoned up wardrobe that the first female vice president character, played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus, wears.
I’m looking forward to seeing the USA Network new series on Political Animals to see how they portray the Hillary-esque main character played by Sigourney Weaver. So much pop culture, so little time, and meanwhile a serious election is going on!
Recently when I talked with Americas Radio News network about how the media treats women candidates, I had a chance to say more about this fraught topic.
Read MorePolitics and Court Picks: Who Should Be Most Concerned?
Conservative pundit Marc A. Thiessen writes in the Washington Post that Chief Justice John Roberts’ health care ruling is just the latest surprise from Supreme Court justices nominated by Republican presidents. 
Thiessen, a former George W. Bush speechwriter, cites various “liberal” rulings by Roberts, Justice Anthony Kennedy and former Justices David Souter and Sandra Day O’Connor: “Democrats have been virtually flawless in appointing reliable liberals to the court. Yet Republicans, more often than not, appoint justices who vote with the other side on critical decisions.”
Excuse me. Can he spell S-c-a-l-i-a?
Thiessen is saying exactly what one would expect a conservative columnist to say about the judiciary, especially when a decision has gone against them.
Read MoreHappy July 4! What Madonna Said About Voting and Sex Still True
So here’s the lesson for July 4, Independence Day 2012:
On July 1st, Mississippi legislation that mandates that all abortion providers be registered OBGY-Ns with hospital visiting privileges was to go into effect, 
because two of the three doctors at the only clinic providing abortion services in Mississippi do not have visiting privileges (undoubtedly yet another consequence of the war on women with abortion as it’s frontline).
Good news is, the Jackson’s Women’s Health Organization and the Center for Reproductive Rights have filed a suit and temporarily stalled the enactment of the legislation, which has nothing to do with medical necessity and everything to do with using the political process to restrict reproductive sell-determination for the women of Mississippi.
Therefore, the only solution to these assaults on women’s freedom and equal rights is participation in the political process. This to me is what Independence Day celebrations are all about—or should be. And as we enjoy those barbecues and fireworks, remember what Madonna says about voting being as important as sex.
Because as usual, the Material Girl tells it like it is. As do my great colleagues Molly Dedham and Christine Eads [link to each of them]. I’m fortunate to be a “Regular Broad” on their terrific Sirius XM radio show called “Broadminded.” The interview excerpted below is from my first “Broadminded” interview. We talked about a range of political issues, including the imperative to harness our sister courage—joining with our sisters–as we use our cherished American liberties to influence the policies we want.
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